Support Ron & Help Me Reach My Trek Everest Fundraising Goal!

There is something majestic and magical about mountains that draws me in, particularly when the opportunity to experience them is combined with the opportunity to raise money for a great cause, Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH).

Next April 2018, my wife Karen and I are among a group of 30 people that will trek to Base Camp at Mount Everest in Nepal, a place that has been on my bucket list since reading the journalist Jon Krakauer’s first person account “Into Thin Air”. Having climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2011, I honestly thought that would be it. I had pushed myself well beyond my physical and emotional thresholds to stand on the top of an iconic mountain. But the opportunity to see Mount Everest first hand and raise much needed funds for MSH is just too important to ignore.

The hospital needs additional financial support beyond what government provides to invest in the technologies necessary to deliver cutting edge capability. The need has become acute for a new, hybrid Operating Room equipped for fluoroscopy, which uses X-rays to obtain real-time moving diagnostic images. It will give our capable doctors the opportunity to save lives. But it falls on initiatives like Trek Everest to source the money to make this investment a reality.

So off we go, April 22 to May 6. I am hopeful you will be as generous with us this time as you were the last time, when we managed to raise more than $50,000 between us for children’s mental health. This time we join a committed group of MSH supporters, physicians and healthcare professionals to journey from Kathmandu, Nepal through the Himalayas up to Base Camp on Mount Everest, at 17,600 ft.

Everest is the highest mountain in the world, first summited 65 years ago by legendary mountaineer, Sir Edmund Hillary. As part of our Trek, our doctors and healthcare providers will be delivering critical services to this area still recovering from the deadly earthquake that devastated it in April 2015. In support of our efforts, Sir Edmund Hillary's son, Peter Hillary, and his granddaughter, Amelia, will accompany us along with expedition leader Ben Webster and his partner Melanie Southworth, both of whom have summited Everest in the past. Trek Everest will certainly be no easy feat, particularly for me, who struggled so badly with altitude sickness climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. But the sense of accomplishment is without parallel and the memory of the struggle has all but disappeared.

Each of us will be donating our time and money to equip ourselves and pay for entire cost of the climb. That being said, I am hopeful that you will support our hospital and make a tax-deductible gift to support this important fundraising initiative. 100% of your donation will go to ensure the highest quality care for the MSH community, for generations to come.

If you prefer not to do this online, we are also able to accept offline donations and cheques payable to Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation.

The adventure begins with your help. Thank you so much for your kind consideration.